Battery defeats Wilmington, 3-1

The Charleston Battery beat the Wilmington Hammerheads, 3-1, on Saturday night at Blackbaud Stadium in front of 4,782.

Midfielder Navion Boyd recorded an early goal, followed by finishes from Dane Kelly and Nicki Paterson in the second half to lead the Battery to its 11th win of the season.

“Anytime you have a setback with a couple losses like we did, there is pressure on the team to perform,” said Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. “But the guys responded well early in the first half and scored two more great goals to put the game away giving us a deserved three points.”

The win moves the Battery (11-6-0) into second place in the USL Pro standings and sets up a big game on Thursday at Blackbaud Stadium as the league-leading Orlando City Lions come to Charleston to take on the Battery. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Charleston opened the scoring early when Boyd found himself in the box on the far side. Boyd dribbled past two defenders and fired a hard shot home out of reach of Wilmington goalkeeper Alex Horwath.

The Hammerheads responded in the 47th minute with a volley goal by Audry Budnyy.

In the 60th minute, the Battery rallied with a connection from Ryan Richter to substitute forward Kelly. Five minutes later, Charleston midfielder Paterson fired a long-range shot from 35 yards out to put the Battery ahead 3-1.